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Nike Unveils Australia’s World Cup Kit

The kit that Australia’s footballers will wear when representing the country in this year’s football world cup was unveiled last night at the Berlin Olympic Stadium in Germany.

The kit that Australia-s footballers will wear when representing the country in this year-s football world cup was unveiled last night at the Berlin Olympic Stadium in Germany.

Qantas Socceroo Marco Bresciano (pictured right), the man who scored the goal which sent the second leg of the final world cup qualifier into extra time, modeled the strip alongside some of world footballs most famous names including Adriano (Brazil), Ruud van Nistelrooy (Holland), Luis Figo (Portugal) and Prso (Croatia).

Nike unveiled the national team uniforms for their eight sponsored teams competing in the World Cup (Australia, Brazil, Netherlands, Portugal, USA, Korea, Mexico, Croatia).

Marco Bresciano said: “The new Australian kit is great and it feels really lightweight to wear. Running out in the green and gold in June will be very exciting and I like the historical similarities with the 1974 strip.”

The kit has been designed to maximize the team-s performance in their first appearance the tournament since 1974. The home kit draws on a piece of history and is reminiscent of the 1974 jersey, both in design and colour.

From a performance perspective the jersey is made from Nike Sphere Dry fabric, which lifts perspiration from the skin through the fabric to allow it to evaporate. The raised nodes on the underside lift the shirt from the skin to reduce cling, providing the primary benefit of keeping the athlete-s skin drier and cooler. This will give the Australian team a competitive edge in the warm conditions that are expected as they compete during the European summer in June.

Nike Managing Director, Paul Zadoff said: “While it is crucial that the kits have inbuilt performance qualities to help athletes perform at their best, the aesthetic elements that capture the Australian spirit and engender national pride are equally important.”

The kit stay stays true to Australia-s traditional colours of green and gold. The home jerseys are a vibrant gold with green-trimmed cuffs while the shorts are solid green allowing the socks to reflect the jersey-s colour and complete the head-to-toe statement.

The away kit pays homage to the Australian flag and the country-s historical colours of the nineteenth century with dark obsidian blue jersey, shorts and socks. Gold is once again seen as a cuff trim on the jersey and a thin band around the socks.

As a final recognition of national pride, the Australian coat of arms has been enlarged on the chest of the jersey and on the shorts.

With no design element left to chance the numerals on the shirts and shorts have been designed with shapely corners to simulate movement.

The Socceroos will wear the kit for the first time in next week-s Asian Cup 2007 qualifier against Bahrain. Australian sports fans will see it on home soil for the first time when the Socceroos take on Greece at the MCG on 25 May in the Powerade Cup.

The new kit will be available for Australian sports fans to purchase in the coming months. Fans can pre-register to buy the kit through the online shop at the FFA-s website www.footballaustralia.com.au